


Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

by Jinx (jinx37kat)



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-31
Updated: 2010-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-20 15:29:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/214236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jinx37kat/pseuds/Jinx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Oops, Grace let it slip that Danny loves Steve.  Steve freaks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out Of The Mouths Of Babes

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I'm putting this kind of note in here, but... Yes, I called Rachel a 'stupid bitch'. If that offends you, don't freaking read any further. It's my opinion, so there you go!

“Danno?” Grace asked as she sat coloring at the small table in the kitchen.

It was December 27th and since Grace had the week off from school, Rachel had graciously allowed her daughter to spend one of her five holiday days with her father. _Stupid bitch!_

Steve had gone over to Danny’s apartment earlier that morning to hang out since neither man had anything better to do when the call came in that Danny could have Grace for the day. Both men had jumped in the Camaro and took off, Danny not letting a golden opportunity like this slip by.

“Yeah, Monkey?” Danny answered absently as he stood at the stove stirring a pot of tomato soup and keeping a careful eye on the grilled cheese sandwiches on the other burner.

“Is Steve staying?”

“Probably through lunch, yeah. Possibly dinner, too. Why?”

Putting down her crayon, Grace stood up and came around to stand next to her father.

“No, I mean, is he staying here?”

Danny gave her a look that clearly stated he had no idea what she was talking about. “I don’t…”

Huffing with the impatience of a true Williams, Grace rolled her eyes. “I mean,” she clarified, “is he staying here? With you?”

Danny could hear the sudden silence in the other room, where Steve had been stretched out reading a magazine. Now, it was quiet… SEAL quiet.

Danny knelt down and winced at the twinge in his knee. “Why would he live here, Gracie? Steve has his own house. You know that.”

“I know. But he’s always over here or we’re always over at his house.”

If possible, the silence from the other room got quieter.

Glancing up but not seeing Steve, Danny looked back at his daughter. “Does it bother you that Steve and I hang out so much?” He was concerned that maybe Grace thought he was spending too much time with Steve and not enough quality time with her, especially since his partner tended to be around most of the times that Danny had with Grace. However, she never seemed to have a problem with Steve before.

“No!” Grace denied, smiling. “I like it. Steve’s funny and nice. I just thought ‘cause you love him like mommy loves Stan that you’d live together too.”

“Uh…” Danny began before a flurry of activity was heard from the other room. Suddenly a face appeared around the corner of the kitchen.

Steve was flushed and he looked a little panicked. “Um, I just remembered I have to… uh, be somewhere,” he finished lamely. He lifted his hand in a wave as he strode to the door. “I’ll call you later.”

The slamming of the door had more finality than Danny liked.

Grace worriedly looked at her father, as though she did something wrong. “Daddy?”

Danny, still staring at the closed door, replied, “I don’t know, Gracie.”

* * *

The rest of day was a bit somber even though Danny tried his hardest to not let it be. He rarely got extra days with Grace and didn’t want to spend this one brooding. But it was hard not to, especially with Steve’s reaction earlier.

True, Danny had not yet told his daughter that he was in a relationship with Steve. But, Grace was sometimes too damned smart for her own good and apparently figured it out on her own. The thing was, Danny and Steve had yet to say the “L” word to each other after all this time. And maybe hearing Grace say it out loud on her father’s behalf had somehow scared Steve off.

Their relationship had started out hot and heavy practically from their first meeting; their snarky and intense bickering translating to the bedroom quite nicely. Danny was thankful for his regimented attire of button down shirts as it easily helped him hide the possessive bruises and bites he often sported after one of their nights together.

However, the relationship had since calmed down enough these past few month for them to just enjoy each others company and not jump each others bones the first chance they got (though the blatant need was _still_ there on some days – well, okay, on most days, if Danny were honest with himself). They regularly spent their days off together, including the days when Danny had Grace.

Grace seemed fine with being with Steve, and, on several occasion, “Uncle” Chin and Kono, too; the other Five-0 members often cajoling Danny into going to one of the many beaches that O’ahu offered, which Grace delighted in.

And when Steve had admitted to Danny, after his first meeting with Grace at the football game, how much he adored Danny’s daughter…? Well, if Danny hadn’t loved Steve before that, he certainly did after, but he’d never said as much to Steve. Then again, Steve hadn’t either, so…

* * *

Grace held her Danno by one hand while the other hand clutched a pail, shovel and other assorted sandcastle making equipment, as they made their way to their “super secret hideaway”. It was a beach that Steve had taken them to a few times. It was nice because, although it was a public beach, it was unknown to tourist and few locals frequented it.

She felt bad for her daddy ‘cause she knew he was upset, but didn’t really know why. It seemed to happen right after Steve left before lunch. She had a feeling it might have been her fault, but Steve hadn’t been in the kitchen when she asked her dad about living with Steve, so she was confused.

They walked for few more minutes, on their way to “their” spot, when Grace looked up and recognized the man sitting in the sand several yards away. Breaking her hold on her dad’s hand and dropping her pail, she ran screaming down the beach. “STEVE!”

Steve looked up startled at Grace’s shriek and, for a moment, looked like he wanted to bolt in the opposite direction. However, seeing the happiness on Grace’s face had him standing up to catch the little girl as she flung herself at him.

“Hey, Gracie,” Steve said softly, picking her up. Steve spared a glance over at Danny, who had picked up Grace’s toys and was slowly making his way towards the other two, one hand carrying the pail and tools and the other shoved deep into his pocket, head bowed, not looking at Steve.

Steve sighed. He had been a prick earlier and he knew it. And judging by the look on Danny’s face, his abrupt exit had hurt Danny deeply. He was sure he had fucked everything up, but he was clueless on how to fix it.

“Where’d you go?” Grace asked, wrapping her arms around Steve’s neck. “Why didn’t you stay for lunch?”

“I’m sorry, Gracie,” Steve apologized. “I had an errand I forgot about.”

The lie brought Danny’s head up and his eyes narrowed as he glared at the other man. Lying to him was one thing, but lying to his daughter…? No fucking way!

Danny removed his hand from his pocket and reached out, wriggling his fingers. “Come on, Grace. I’m sure Steve has other things to do today. We wouldn’t want to keep him from his _errands_.”

“Danny…” Steve began as he slowly lowered Grace to her feet.

“Don’t!” Danny shouted. Seeing Grace widen her eyes at his angered outburst, Danny’s voice softened. “Sorry, Monkey.” He reached out his hand and gently grasped hers. “We should go.”

“But, Daddy! Steve’s here!”

“Exactly,” Danny replied icily.

“Danny…” Steve tried again. “Let me…”

Danny glowered at Steve and Steve had the smarts to snap his mouth shut. Danny then took a deep breath and visibly softened his eyes, looking down at his daughter. “Grace?” Danny interrupted. “Why don’t you start on a sandcastle and I’ll be right there in a minute, huh?”

Grace looked up at her father skeptically, but feeling the tension between the two adults, she took her toys from her daddy and did as she was asked. She moved a few yards away where the wet sand met the dry sand and knelt down, starting to dig.

* * *

Danny grabbed Steve roughly by the arm and moved a few feet further up the beach in a semblance of privacy.

“If you say, ‘let me explain, Danno’, I swear to god I will punch you where you stand,” Danny hissed, anger radiating out of every pore of his body. He was practically vibrating in his attempt to rein in his fury.

“Danny, I’m sorry,” Steve whispered, reaching out to run a hand down Danny’s forearm.

Danny jerked his arm away as though scalded. “Don’t you fucking touch me.” Danny continued to glare at his partner. When Steve remained silent, Danny lost all patience and snapped, “Since it is perfectly clear the thought of me loving you disgusts you so fucking much, I think we’re done here, don’t you? I’ll request a transfer back to HPD in the morning.”

“What?! NO!” Steve shouted and lunged for a retreating Danny. He grabbed Danny around the waist, pinning his arms to his side and buried his face in Danny’s neck. “No, please don’t go,” Steve mumbled into Danny’s throat.

Grace looked up from her sandcastle and saw Steve holding her daddy and smiled, going back to her work.

“Let. Me. The. Fuck. Go, McGarrett,” Danny seethed quietly, standing stock still, not trying to get away, but clearly ready to explode at any moment.

“Danny, please, let me explain.” Steve winced as he said the very words that Danny hadn’t wanted him to say in the first place, and he felt Danny tense further in his arms. “Please,” Steve begged, holding Danny tighter.

It was the shear panic in Steve’s tone that allowed Danny to relax enough to be coaxed into turning around to face Steve.

Crossing his arms over his chest as Steve took a step back, Danny said, “Fine. Explain. Explain why you ran out of the house like your ass was on fire the second Grace mentioned that dreaded “L” word,” Danny snipped sarcastically, using his fingers to quote the L. “I mean, we’ve never said it to each other before, but I thought it was kind of a given. Apparently I was wrong.”

“You weren’t wrong,” Steve said, staring down at the sand.

“Oh really? ‘Cause running away like a little girl… no offense, Monkey,” Danny whispered in an aside to Grace, who hadn’t heard a thing, “…wouldn’t give me that impression at all.”

As Steve continued to stand in front of him in silence, Danny lost the last shred of patience he possessed. His arms flung out wide. “Seriously? Nothing?” He slapped his palms over his eyes and rubbed them down his face in frustration. “You have nothing,” he finished flatly.

When Steve still remained mute, Danny tossed his arms up in the air in resignation. “What-the fuck-ever,” he grumbled under his breath.

As he was prepared to stomp off, Steve reached out a finger and ran it over the hairs of Danny’s right forearm, sliding down to gently capture Danny’s wrist with his hand, lightly caressing the inside of Danny’s wrist with his thumb. “I’ve never said it to anyone before.”

Danny cocked an eyebrow. And?”

“And… I didn’t know if you felt that way, too,” Steve whispered, as though ashamed to say the words out loud.

If Danny could roll his eyes any further in the back of his head, they’d be slot machines. “You’re kidding, right?”

Steve shook his head. “I mean, I know how I feel about you, but I wasn’t really sure how you felt about me.”

 _Dear god in heaven_ , Danny sighed internally, dropping his head back and facing the sky with his eyes closed before opening them as though searching for divine intervention or guidance or something, _my partner really is a girl._

Danny tipped his head down and stared at Steve for a long moment; long enough that Steve started squirming like a five year old. His thumb still, unconsciously, caressing Danny’s imprisoned wrist.

“So,” Danny began. “The fact we spend all our free time together didn’t give you a hint?” When Steve didn’t answer, Danny continued. “Or the fact that said free time often includes Gracie, when I have her?” Steve dropped his head to stare at the sand at his feet and remained silent. “And you didn’t stop to think for one second that had I not loved you as much as I do, you would be spending _no_ free time with my daughter?”

Steve’s head snapped up. “I didn’t think…”

Danny snorted. “That’s the fucking problem, isn’t it?”

Steve looked over at Grace and smiled when she lifted her head and waved at him.

“I let you drive my car, Steve.” Steve turned back to Danny. “I’ve let you drive my car one week after meeting you and you shoving a gun in my face and getting me shot. My _car_ , Steve.” Danny stressed the word while the arm not still in Steve’s grasp shot out and flew around, pantomiming a gun and then a car’s steering wheel. “I mean, who the hell _does_ that? Who lets anyone drive their car… _ever_?! And you’ve been doing that since practically day fucking one! You driving your fucking land yacht to my apartment, and we take _my_ car to work. If I’m lucky, and I stress the word _if._ If I am lucky, _I_ am privileged with driving my own damned car to pick _you_ up from _your_ house; but even still, you leap into the driver’s seat every damned time. _And I let you, god damn it!!!_ ” Danny’s free arm is still flinging around with a life of its own. “If that’s not love, you stupid fuck, I don’t know what the hell is!”

“Oh, OH!” Danny continued after taking the shortest breath in history. “And what about the whole ‘babe’ thing? _That_ didn’t give it away?” Danny asked, finally dropping his arm and shoving his hand in his pocket.

A smile, which had begun to trace itself across Steve’s face as he stood listening to Danny rage, was wiped off at the mention of “the babe thing”. Steve released Danny’s wrist and glared at his partner. “Not when you said it to Sang Min, too!”

Danny’s brows furrowed. “What? When did I…? Oh.”

Steve’s eyes narrowed. “Yeah, ‘oh’.”

“It was meant as sarcasm, Steven. I didn’t mean anything else by it.”

Steve shrugged a shoulder petulantly. “I didn’t know that.”

“Oh my god!” Danny blurted. “You are such a girl!”

“I am not a girl!” Steve bellowed, causing Grace to look up again at the two “adults”.

“Could have fooled me,” Danny snarked. He turned to check on Grace and waved at her, giving her a thumbs-up on her architectural design. His daughter’s widening eyes was the only warning he got before he found himself flat on his back in the sand; a heavily muscled Navy SEAL pinning him to the ground.

“You stupid, fuck! What’dya do that for?” Danny howled.

Steve leaned down and nuzzled against Danny’s throat, licking a stripe from carotid artery to behind his ear. He thrust gently into Danny. “Does that feel like a girl to you?” Steve whispered huskily into Danny’s ear.

Danny, who _had_ been trying to push Steve off, was now pulling him closer, shivering at the contact. Steve lifted his head and gently placed a soft kiss against Danny’s lips, pulling back much too quickly.

“I love you, too,” Steve said against Danny’s lips.

“Apparently,” Danny replied dryly, rolling his eyes and pressing up against Steve’s lips for another not-so-chaste-this-time kiss.

“Eww, Daddy,” Grace stated with child-like disgust. She was now standing over the two men, tiny fists on her hips.

Danny dropped his head in the sand and squeezed his eyes shut. Just what he didn’t need his daughter to see. Rachel knowing wasn’t going to be far behind – unless she already knew. He wouldn’t have put it past his wonderful, beautiful, too-smart-for-her-own-good daughter to ask Rachel why Danno and Steve weren’t living together the way mommy and Step-Stan were.

Danny wondered if a big enough wave would just come up and sweep him away. Then he wouldn’t have to think about this shit anymore. And he wouldn’t have to deal with a girl for a boyfriend.

Danny opened his eyes and saw Steve smiling down at him. Apparently all was forgiven as far as Steve was concerned. And if truth be told, Danny could never stay mad at Steve. Even when they argued on the job about the merits of police procedures and due process and when it is wrong to shove people off cliffs, Steve would usually just look at Danny with that stupid shy half smile and Danny caved like the pussy he was.

 _Fuck!_

Danny watched in amusement as Steve launched himself up and off Danny, grabbing Grace around the waist and swinging her around, falling backwards, allowing Grace to land on his chest.

Grace squealed with delight and giggled as Steve tossed her into the air, catching her on his chest and started tickling her.

“Danno! Save me!” She shrieked, laughing, trying to get away.

Danny sat up and stared at the two loves of his life, a soft smile curving his lips. Only Steve could piss him off so fucking much one second and make him fall in love with him again the next. _Fuck! Now who was being the girl?!_ Danny rolled his eyes at himself this time, keeping an affectionate gaze directed at Steve and Grace.

Steve saw Danny’s look and sat up with Grace wrapped in his arms. He smiled shyly back at Danny, holding Grace close.

Grace had her hands wrapped around Steve’s arms across her chest and she was grinning at her dad. She looked between Danny and Steve and relaxed against Steve’s body. Whatever had happened between the two adults seemed to be okay now. Adults were weird. They got mad over the silliest things. But now that everything seemed to be okay, she decided to ask, “Does this mean I call Steve ‘dad’ now?”

Danny’s eyes grew wide and he choked on some inhaled spit. He glanced at Steve who was looking back with a mixture of shock and fear and a little bit of wonder.

It was the last emotion on Steve’s face that helped loosen the jealous knot in Danny’s chest that had popped up at Grace’s question.

Realizing it wasn’t such a bad thing as Steve was already more of a second father to his daughter than Step-Stan was (at least in Danny’s eyes), Danny shrugged a shoulder and lifted an eyebrow. “You’ll have to ask Steve that, Monkey.”

Grace turned in Steve’s embrace. “Can I call you ‘dad’ now?”

“Um,” Steve began, looking to Danny for guidance and finding none. He wanted to say ‘yes’ so bad, but he also didn’t want to offend Danny. “Um,” he repeated stupidly, silently begging Danny for help. Danny’s face softened and he looked on with fondness at Steve’s bewilderment. Finally Steve asked, nodding his head in Danny’s direction, “Um, what about your daddy?”

Danny wanted to know the answer to that, too.

Grace rolled her eyes as though what she was about to say was the most obvious thing in the world. “Daddy’s my Danno and you can be my dad.”

Danny practically beamed. He would always be Gracie’s Danno. No one could ever take that from him.

“Uh, what about your mommy’s husband?” Steve asked, receiving dual glowers from both Williams’s.

“He’s Step Stan,” Grace said flatly.

“You could call me Step Steve,” Steve offered.

Grace shook her head vehemently. “I want to call you ‘dad’.”

Steve grinned as though he’d been given the best gift in the universe.

“I’d like that a lot, Gracie.”

Grace smiled and wriggled to get out of Steve’s embrace. Once free, she reached for Steve’s hand before grabbing Danny’s hand and pulling at them. “C’mon! I need to finish my sandcastle!”

Both men levered themselves up, following Grace down to her unfinished creation.

Danny looked up at Steve as they made their way down the beach. “I do love you, you big girl,” Danny whispered as he reached up to kiss Steve on the cheek and lace his fingers with Steve’s.

Deciding to ignore the insult, Steve grinned and leaned down to give Danny a proper kiss on his lips. “I love you, too.”

 

Fin  
December 2010


End file.
